Heroic England defeat Argentina

David Beckham led England to a sensational and famous victory when he scored the penalty in the 1-0 win over Argentina today.

England captain Beckham swept away the miserable memories of four years ago and helped England gain sweet World Cup revenge over the South Americans.

Beckham, who was castigated after his sending off against Argentina at France '98, was the nation's hero today as he thumped home the 44th-minute penalty which puts England second in Group F and within touching distance of a place in the last 16.

A draw against Nigeria on Wednesday morning will be enough to put England through to the second round.

Argentina's Diego Simeone - the man Beckham clashed with in 1998 - again tried to ruin the Manchester United star's moment by attempting to distract him as he prepared to take the spot-kick.

But Beckham was the bigger man this time.

He said: "It was terrifying taking the penalty because of their antics. The keeper was telling me to put it one way and Simeone was trying to shake my hand. It's been a long four years and I have been up and down, but this tops it all off.

"We did really well and battled very hard. The team were brilliant for the whole 92 minutes."

Beckham was only one of a team of England heroes in a marvellous match in which this young England side came of age. The way they battled as Argentina piled on the pressure in a tensionpacked second half, was a credit to themselves and coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

At the end, as the England supporters in the futuristic Sapporo Dome celebrated wildly, Beckham went straight over to Simeone and shook him by the hand.

The win puts England in second place on goals scored to Sweden, who had earlier beaten Nigeria 2-1 and leaves Eriksson's team needing only a draw against the Nigerians in Osaka next Wednesday. Eriksson was his usual cool and calm self afterwards but back in the England dressing-room, it was a safe bet that the celebrations were in full swing.

The Swede said: "Qualification is in our hands and we would be stupid to let it go now. It was a tough, tough game and for the last 15 minutes we defended with big, big hearts.

"We are all very happy but from tomorrow we have to focus on the match against Nigeria. If we stay in this tournament I am sure we will get better and better. There are four or five players who are still not fully fit but they will get better and better with every game.

"All the England players did a great job tonight and I want to thank them publicly.

"We did some wonderful things today but I thought we also played well against Sweden in the first half."

It was a hugely satisfying night, not only for Beckham but also for Liverpool striker Michael Owen, who also had cause to remember that match in St Etienne four years ago.

Owen unhinged the Argentine defence with his pace that night and he was at it again in Sapporo, jinking into the box just before half-time and tempting defender Mauricio Pochettino into bringing him down.

The venom with which Beckham thumped in his spot-kick was a measure of his determination to exorcise the ghosts of St Etienne. Within minutes of the final whistle, bookmakers slashed the odds on England winning the World Cup. Ladbrokes cut their odds from 16-1 to 7-1, while William Hill's odds went from 14-1 to 8-1.

Ladbrokes even quoted odds of just 10-1 on Beckham receiving a knighthood this year.

But Beckham was not the only hero. Everyone played their part in a heroic England display but Manchester United's Paul Scholes was outstanding.

Not far behind him came Leeds defender Rio Ferdinand, Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman who made several important saves and even West Ham's Trevor Sinclair, who came on in the 18th minute for the injured Owen Hargreaves and played his full part in a memorable night.

Above all, though, it was a superbly satisfying night for Beckham, Owen, substitute Teddy Sheringham and the rest who were forced to stand and suffer with their families four years as the Argentines, on board their team coach as it drove away from the stadium four years ago, gestured, postured and generally rubbed the English noses in it.

It is to be hoped that England acted with a little more humility today.